Fear is the mirror of what is valuable to us

Bärbel Frischmann: Fear is one of the basic human emotions. It is based on the fact that we imagine possible dangers and are therefore able to arm ourselves against potential threats at an early stage. Fear is therefore not a weakness, but a condition for our survival. It is important to realize that fear performs this warning function by being perceived as unpleasant and stressful. This is precisely why we try to avoid what triggers our fears, i.e. the potential danger.

BF: We can develop fears about all kinds of threats that we can imagine. In the dialogues, three important levels of fear can be identified, each of which reinforces the other: firstly, the political events of the revolution create a social atmosphere of unrest and insecurity that can escalate into mass panic. Secondly, religion plays an important role, which on the one hand has developed its own forms of fear in the fear of God and also in the fear of hell, but which in faith also offers the possibility of mastering one's own fears and trusting in God's grace. And finally, there is the individual psychological disposition of each person with a more or less pronounced anxiety.

BF: We now know from epigenetics that traumatic experiences of the mother during pregnancy can leave biological traces in the foetus, which often manifests itself later in life as greater anxiety. In addition, there are social moods: if a family or a society is characterized by a feeling of great calamity, individuals are also more likely to develop anxiety. In Blanche's personality, the basic psychological state, the family and the political overlap. Fear is part of her identity from the very beginning - something that she first tries to understand and then to accept for her life.

BF: There is a double dimension to this choice of name, which has something to do with the figure of Jesus. On the one hand, Jesus is human, and as such he is also afraid of death before the crucifixion. On the other hand, he is the Son of God and trusts that he will be saved. Blanche embraces this tension. Religion offers the hope of salvation beyond the earthly threats, especially in the face of the excesses of the revolution. Faith helps to embrace and transform fear; not to destroy it, but to embrace it through hope for an otherworldly salvation. In this sense, for Blanche, faith is a form of coping with fear that does not suppress life, but gives it depth.
This can be seen particularly clearly in the final scene, when the nuns stride to the giullotine singing: Their singing transforms fear of death into trust. This is not a repression, but a conscious transformation of fear - they rise spiritually above the here and now and are no longer dominated by fear, but dominate fear.

BF: Yes, fear arises where freedom begins. Above all, freedom means being able to choose from a field of possibilities, but also having to choose. Fear accompanies this awareness of freedom like a shadow, because choosing means deciding who you want to be, how you want to shape your own life. But we do not know the future and cannot know whether our life plans will work out. This is a great challenge that is frightening. Kierkegaard put it wonderfully: Fear is the vertigo in the face of freedom, it is like looking into the abyss of possibilities. In addition, we also have to bear responsibility for every choice we make, which can become a heavy burden - and it is precisely this responsibility that is part of the fear. Blanche makes the decision to enter a convent. She promises herself protection, security, rules and order, which in turn will relieve her of worldly decisions. However, she learns that fear cannot be conquered by retreating, but only by taking responsibility for herself. Her path leads from fleeing to acting.

BF: Political fears arise because people exercise political power over other people and use violence in the process. People's fears for their well-being, for their families and friends, for their economic existence or even for their very survival - these fears are then greatly heightened in times of great upheaval and crisis. In "Dialogues des Carmélites", this is very impressive: the fear of the individual reflects the fear of the masses and vice versa. On the one hand, the revolution stands for the people's desire for freedom, but at the same time it is deeply frightening with its terror and is ultimately even directed against the nuns in their convent.
In Poulenc's opera, this even has a tonal form: the collective shocks of the revolution contrast with the inwardness of the convent. Here, fear has rhythm, volume and body - it becomes a social vibration that affects all the characters.

BF: Fear can unite or divide, depending on how it is experienced and interpreted. We are social beings, we share moods, we allow ourselves to be infected - hence the talk of the "epidemic of fear" in opera. But every person also has their own psychological constitution. For some, fear becomes an engine of solidarity, for others it becomes a paralyzing overload. Blanche moves precisely between these poles. She vacillates, she leaves her parental home and goes to the convent as a "place of refuge". But the terror destroys the security there, she flees out of fear of the turmoil of the revolution, and she finally returns to her religious community - and in the end she finds a form of inner sovereignty that lifts her above the fear of death in the face of the scaffold.

BF: This is one of the most powerful scenes in the opera because it shows us the limits of preparation for death. Even someone who has dealt with death all their life may not be free from the fears of uncertainty in the last hour of what death means and what may come. Faith can carry, but it does not cancel out human fear. This shows a profound truth: fear is part of being human, it cannot be completely meditated or prayed away - but it can be borne courageously.

BF: Our present is characterized by acceleration, an unmanageable flood of information and great uncertainty about the future. This stresses and overwhelms many people. That is why it is important to achieve inner balance again and again, to create spaces for inner reflection - whether through meditation, conversations, rituals or stable social relationships. Some philosophers of antiquity - Stoics and Epicureans, as well as Buddhists - understood the "practice of peace of mind" as an art of living. Such an attitude is still interesting today in order to learn to control fear instead of being at its mercy.
Fear shows that we are aware of our freedom and the responsibility that every decision entails. In this sense, fear can help us to embrace freedom in the face of our own vulnerability and mortality and to see fear itself as a form of strength. Poulenc's nuns are therefore not victims - they are witnesses of fear that is transformed into courage.